As posted at the City Projects webpage on 15 October 2025:
I popped in at Register of Deeds this morning.
For Vick Cemetery, the Wilson County GIS website shows a “-” for Plat Reference, as it always has.
A search of recent filings by the City of Wilson confirms that no plat map has yet been recorded.
Before Wilson County was founded in 1855, the area around Black Creek was part of Wayne County. Celia Artis, a free woman of color, is listed as a head of household in the 1840 census of Black Creek district of Wayne County. Though it’s not certain that she lived in what is now Wilson County, her listing in proximity to white planters Stephen Woodard and Bunyan Barnes, who definitely lived in Wilson County territory, suggests so.
1840 federal census of Wayne County, North Carolina.
Celia’s family and Adam T. Artis’ family were among several sets of Artises living in or adjacent to northeastern Wayne County in the antebellum era, and members both intermarried and otherwise interacted with each other regularly. At least eight sets of Celia Artis’ descendants were living in Wilson County by the early 1900s, so I include a summary of her life here.
Celia Artis was born just before 1800, probably in northeastern Wayne County or what is now southern Wilson County. Nothing is known of her parentage or early life. She gave birth to at least six children and married an enslaved man called Simon Pig, who was the father of some or all of them.
In 1823, she gave control over her oldest children to two white neighbors, brothers (or father and son) Elias and Jesse Coleman, in a dangerously worded deed that exceeded the scope of typical apprenticeship indentures:
This indenture this 16th day of August 1823 between Celia Artis of the County of Wayne and state of North Carolina of the one part, and Elias and Jesse Coleman of the other part (witnesseth) that I the said Celia Artis have for an in consideration of having four of my children raised in a becoming [illegible], by these presence indenture the said four children (to viz) Eliza, Ceatha, Zilpha, and Simon Artis to the said Elias and Jesse Coleman to be their own right and property until the said four children arives at the age of twenty one years old and I do by virtue of these presents give and grant all my right and power over said children the above term of time, unto the said Elias and Jesse Coleman their heirs and assigns, until the above-named children arives to the aforementioned etc., and I do further give unto the said Elias and Jesse Coleman all power of recovering from any person or persons all my right to said children — the [illegible] of time whatsoever in whereof I the said Celia Artis have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year above written, Celia X Artis.
Despite the “own right and property” language, Celia did not exactly sell her children, but what drove her to this extreme measure? Celia was not legally married and, as a result, her children were subject to involuntary apprenticeship until age 21. This strongly worded deed records her determination to guard her children from uncertain fates by placing them under the control of men she trusted, rather than those selected by a court. Despite the deed’s verbiage, it is possible that the children continued to live with their mother during their indenture. Certainly, Celia, unlike many free women of color, had the wherewithal to care for them, as evidenced by her purchase of 10 acres in Wayne County from Spias Ward in 1833. Wayne County deeds further show purchases of 124 acres and 24 acres from William Thompson in 1850 and 1855.
By 1840, Celia Artis was head of a household of eight free people of color in Black Creek district, Wayne County, comprising one woman aged 36-54 [Celia]; three girls aged 10-23 [Eliza, Leatha, Zilpha]; one girl under 10 [unknown]; two boys aged 10-23 [Calvin and Simon]; and one boy under 10 [Thomas].
In the 1850 census, she was enumerated on the North Side of the Neuse, Wayne County, as a 50 year-old with children Eliza, 34, Zilpha, 28, Thomas, 15, and Calvin, 20, plus 6 year-old Lumiser, who was Eliza’s daughter. Celia is credited with owning $600 of real property (deeds for most of which went unrecorded), and the agricultural schedule for that year details her wealth:
Celia Artis also appears in the 1850 Wayne County slave schedule, which records her ownership of her husband:
1850 slave schedule of Wayne County, North Carolina.
In 1860, surprisingly, the census taker named that husband, Simon Pig Artis, as the head of household. However, if he’d been freed formally, there’s no record of it. Simon is also listed as the 70 year-old owner of $800 of real property and $430 of personal property — all undoubtedly purchased by Celia. Their household included son Thomas, daughter Zilpha, and granddaughters Lumizah, 17, and Penninah, 11.
1860 federal census of Wayne County, North Carolina.
A 1863 Confederate field map shows “C. Artis” just off the roads that are now NC-222 and Watery Branch Church Road.
The family’s cemetery remains on that land, as seen in the Google Street View below. A Primitive Baptist church, Diggs Chapel, and an early African-American school, Diggs School, once stood nearby.
Neither Celia nor Simon appears in the 1870 census. However, it seems likely that Celia was alive for at least a few more years, as her estate was not opened until 1879. It was surprisingly small, suggesting that she had distributed most her land and valuables (or otherwise lost them) before her death. Son Thomas is listed as the sole heir to her $200 estate.
Known Wilson County descendants of Celia Artis (and the child from whom they descend) include Edgar H. Diggs and children (Eliza); Rommie Diggs Sr. and descendants (Eliza); Sallie Artis Shackleford and descendants (Eliza); brothers Kemmy A. Sherrod and O. Royal Sherrod (Eliza); Rommie Newsome (Eliza); siblings Beulah Artis Exum Best, Francis Artis Edmundson, and Adam H. Artis (Eliza); Daisy Baker Hobbs (Leatha Ann); and Haywood W. Baker and descendants (including son John H.W. Baker) (Leatha Ann).
“Map of a part of eastern North Carolina from a map in progress compiled from surveys and reconnaissances” (1863), Jeremy Francis Gilmer Papers #276, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
I’ve long been curious about the trio of little houses behind the Mary Jane Taylor Sutzer house in the 500 block of East Nash Street. In an interview a few months ago, Samuel C. Lathan mentioned them:
Lathan: … And Rev. [Russell B.] Taylor had an orchard.
Henderson: Oh, okay.
Lathan: Back there where those houses at down Nash Street.
Henderson: Okay. Back behind?
Lathan: Yeah, it was an orchard back there. …
Not long after, I noticed a little notation in a margin of the 1940 census of Wilson. Listed adjacent to the Taylor household were the three households of … Taylor’s Alley.
Here they are yesterday morning:
Per description in the nomination form for Wilson Central Business-Tobacco Warehouse Historic District, Sutzer purchased the house on the left from Alfred Robinson prior to building her own house in 1915. The two dwellings on the right are described as “small, four-bay by one-bay, two-room bungaloid houses.”
A little further west on the 500 block of East Nash, the census records another alley, Gilliam’s, with a duplex.
The 1930 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson reveals Gilliam’s Alley as the tiny space running from Nash Street between Dr. Matthew S. Gilliam‘s medical office and the Orange Hotel. (Of the buildings shown below, only the Orange still stands.)
Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, October 2025.
Plat Book 8, page 28, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.
Sisters Jennie Parker Kerbo and Magdalena Parker Huntley jointly owned two lots stretching between Ash and Narroway Streets. The lots now correspond to 104 Ash Street and 107 Narroway.
We saw here that a half-dozen or more African-American Odd Fellows lodges were scattered around Wilson County in the early 1900s. Two were in the town of Wilson — Mount Hebron, whose lodge was in the 500 block of East Nash, and Zion Hall, which was in the Grabneck community. Others were in unclear locations in or near Stantonsburg, Black Creek, and Lucama, and three were at locations completely unknown.
I stumbled on a clue today.
While running down a loose end related to Saint Delight Original Free Will Baptist church, at (2), my cursor paused on the square outlined in blue, at (1). I glanced at the owner of this lot. Odd Fellows Society?!? And with the same generic Bishop L.N. Forbes Street address as the Lane Street Project’s Odd Fellows Cemetery. Per the tax record for this parcel, this is a cemetery. [The parcels marked (4) are also cemeteries — Saint Delight’s original cemetery and an expansion lot acquired in 1993. I believe (3) is the lot on which Kirby’s Crossing School once stood.]
Which Odd Fellows lodge was this? And large enough to establish its own cemetery? Wow!
A plat map showing a division of property for the Lucian Kirby heirs, filed in 1992, answers the question. Here’s a detail:
Plat Book 22, page 220, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.
The key identifies the owner of (3) as Lucama Odd Fellows Grand United Order No. 3501. (This may be a typo, as other documents record the lodge number as 3561.)
I don’t have access to Deed Book 51 online, but I’ll run to the courthouse for it next time I’m in Wilson. (The Bishop L.N. Forbes mailing address for recent tax records for this property is clearly a recent clerical add-in. It’s erroneous, and serves no purpose other than to cloud the picture. The address is insufficient for mail delivery; there is no mailbox; and, in any event, both cemeteries are tax-exempt.) I’ll also need to take another look at the cemetery, which I assumed belonged to the church when I photographed it in September 2017.
Here’s a clue I missed:
James A. Kirby‘s fallen headstone shows the Odd Fellows’ linked chain symbol, marked F-L-T. Lucama Lodge was chartered in 1892, and Kirby may have been among the original members.
If Lane Street Project had an inspo board, these images would be tacked across the top.
I drove over to Athens yesterday to listen to UGA students talk about their semester’s work storymapping the families of historic Brooklyn Cemetery.
Linda Davis founded Friends of Brooklyn Cemetery in 2006. She’s part of the descendant community, and I look forward to speaking with her soon and tapping into her wisdom and wealth of experience.
I tried to visit the cemetery before the talk started, but it’s accessed from the parking lot of a church, and I didn’t know where the gates were or what the rules were around visitation. There are several cemeteries I want to visit in the Athens area, so I’ll see it next trip.
I sat on the front row near the students, and I overheard several of them mention “my family.” I was briefly thrown as all but two of a dozen or so were white (just one is Black), and Brooklyn is an African-American cemetery. As they presented, however, it became clear that the students identify very closely with the particular families they were assigned to research.
Each StoryMap used the same design layout. For each family, researchers included an introduction, a family tree, a map tour of the gravesites, a timeline and map tour of addresses significant to the family’s history, and a spotlight on one family member.
For example:
Project members acknowledged some of the limitations of their research.
(And a nod to Lyndon House Arts Center, which hosts sponsor Historic Athens’ monthly programming.)
Odd Fellows, Vick, and Rountree Cemeteries don’t have a major research university in their backyard, but East Carolina and North Carolina State Universities aren’t far away. Odd Fellows is perfect for this kind of storymapping project, and I am exploring ways to make it happen. (Including maybe taking an intro GIS course myself.)
See more of Community Mapping Lab’s work in and around Athens, including the Brooklyn Cemetery, here.
Heading over to Athens to learn more about Brooklyn Cemetery and its partnership with University of Georgia’s Community Mapping Lab!
Ben Mincey and the Red Hots responded to big fires all over the city, but their primary responsibility was for East Wilson. The 1922 Sanborn fire insurance map shows all the fire alarms set up thoroughout the district.
Note the clusters in sections 17, 26, and 28 on the sites of industrial complexes. Also note the relative rarity of alarms on residential streets east of the tracks. If a house caught fire on, say, the corner of Carolina and Reid, some hard running was required to raise the alarm.
A close-up showing the alarm, marked F.A., at the junction of East Green and Elba Streets.
Preservation Society of Charleston has joined forces with the College of Charleston’s Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture to digitally map historic African-American cemeteries in Charleston, South Carolina.
Per Avery Center’s Instagram page: “The Humane and Friendly Society was established by free Blacks in Charleston, South Carolina in 1802 to support sick individuals and to aid their families; to provide a place for burial, and to help widows. In addition, they sometimes arranged for apprenticeships for African American males and paid for the education of orphaned children. The society also promoted a sense of community, yet some found the society and others like it to be elitist since one had to pay dues to be a member. The organization was one of nine burial and fraternal societies such as Brown Fellowship Society (1790); and preceded the Friendly Union Society (1913); Brotherly Association (1852); Monrovia Society (1856); Unity and Friendship Society (1871); Reserve Fellowship (1874); Lewis Christian Society; and Racker Hill Cemetery (aka Bright Light) (1890s). Other names for these organizations include bury leagues, mutual benefit societies, fraternal orders, and burial associations.”
I dream of this kind of partnership — and mapping — for Odd Fellows Cemetery. In the meantime, I look forward to following and learning from this partnership.
I’ve written about the removal of graves from “Jones-Hill-Coleman” Cemetery in 1995. I was puzzled by the name of the cemetery, its unclear location, and the location of the “Eva Coleman Cemetery” to which some of the burials were reinterred.
Jones-Hill-Coleman Cemetery is clearly the cemetery more commonly called Jones Hill. The removal of graves certificate filed in October 1995 identified 11 graves to be removed to “the new Coleman” cemetery and ten to be moved to Rest Haven Cemetery because of “road construction.” An attached map, labeled “Jones-Hill-Coleman Cemetery,” shows an orderly six-row graveyard adjacent to Old Raleigh Road. I was thrown initially because this sketch bears little resemblance to Jones Hill in its current state. Also, while 44 graves in Jones Hill have been identified, the graves on this map mostly were labeled “adult,” “baby,” or “no one found.” I assumed, in error I now see, that this meant the graves were unidentified, which puzzled me because Jones Hill contains dozens of headstones. Last, though the map is marked not to scale, the graves seemed awfully close to the road compared to the front edge of Jones Hill now.
I’m still a little confused, but with further study, I have a somewhat better understanding. A road construction project required the removal of graves from the right-of-way buffering Old Raleigh Road.
Wilson Daily Times, 25 July 1995.
The burials in the public right-of-way primarily were descendants of Henry and Mary Jane Thompson Coleman, who had owned a 68-acre tract of land just north of the cemetery.
In 1990, that tract was divided among Henry Coleman’s heirs. Daughter Eva Coleman, now deceased, received tracts 2 and 3, containing 13.7 acres, at bottom right. See Wilson County deed book 1410, page 341.
Plat book 21, page 150, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.
Google Maps aerial view of the area with a dotted line marking the lower boundary of the Coleman tracts and (A) at Jones Hill Cemetery.
Detail of 2013 plat map showing Jones Hill Cemetery, bottom left above “Old,” and the bottom edge of the Coleman tracts. Plat book 39, page 184.
Per the map attached to the removal of graves certificate, ten identified remains — mostly Joneses and Edmundsons — were moved to Rest Haven Cemetery in Wilson.
John Thomas Edmundson’s relocated grave in Rest Haven, courtesy of findagrave.com.
The other eleven graves — all but two unidentified — were moved to a new cemetery created on Eva Coleman’s land at a location described on a map of the cemetery attached to the certificate as:
The graves are not recorded at Findagrave.com. A zoomed-in perusal of the Eva Coleman tract on Google Maps reveals an area with housing and outbuildings surrounded by plowed fields. At the bottom corner of the tract, however, this clear area appears:
Though its location does not square easily with the description above, this would seem to be the Eva Coleman Cemetery. Can any family members confirm?